Welding Tips and Tricks

Good afternoon,

I am starting a small welding business and will be doing some mobile repairs. I do mostly TIG in my shop, but when working on gates or heavy metal, I will be stick welding. I use a Lincoln Squarewave 200. My question is should I invest in a small engine driven welder, OR buy a 7500 watt generator and run my Squarewave off that? Lincoln says 7500 watt is fine for that machine.
If I buy a champion generator its only $750, vs 2k for an engine drivin welder.
Any thoughts?

-Anthony

I’d personally recommend the generator route. Then you can make enough money to eventually cover the cost of a upgrade later.

My understanding is inverter welders require a generator with a "clean" power source rating of less than 5% Total Harmonic Distortion. I looked into the Champion generator at one time and had to call them to find out the THD is 26%. So it might be worth checking into what THD the Lincoln requires, and what generator can supply it.

But i agree, a generator sounds like the right way to go.

I recently needed to go the generator route as I have to weld some gates / fencing at a location without power & the only access means carrying all equipment across about 1/2 mile of beach so an engine drive is out ! did some testing as to what size I could get away with - found that inverters mostly use in proportion to the load & manufacturers tend to recommend 1.5 * the maximum load ( which is a sensible ) so I can use smaller than originally thought as I'm only using small rods as the tubing is quite thin - may even use a spool gun with fluxcore - if you want the facility to run flat out then I think the 7.5kw size sounds about right - transformer based machines are not as forgiving & don't seem to run well on generators plus there is a big surge both switching on & off which can hurt a generator - when shopping for generators the cheapest will tend to be inductive brushless things - forget them they are plain nasty in output - safest check is take end off unless you can see enough through air vents - if there are brushes & an AVR you should be good to go - there is more chance of killing the generator than the welder - if you see no brushes & a big capacitor walk away ! it maybe beyond your budget but there are small portable engine drives for odd jobbing that are carry weight for taking around / up buildings etc - often only 150 > 200 amp but for average repairs up to 1/8" rods do fine - most common around here is the Mosa Magiweld series - one man can easily carry the 160amp - powered by just the 6.5hp Honda engine & has aux 110volt power for a grinder - this may suit your work.

noddybrian wrote:I recently needed to go the generator route as I have to weld some gates / fencing at a location without power & the only access means carrying all equipment across about 1/2 mile of beach so an engine drive is out ! did some testing as to what size I could get away with - found that inverters mostly use in proportion to the load & manufacturers tend to recommend 1.5 * the maximum load ( which is a sensible ) so I can use smaller than originally thought as I'm only using small rods as the tubing is quite thin - may even use a spool gun with fluxcore - if you want the facility to run flat out then I think the 7.5kw size sounds about right - transformer based machines are not as forgiving & don't seem to run well on generators plus there is a big surge both switching on & off which can hurt a generator - when shopping for generators the cheapest will tend to be inductive brushless things - forget them they are plain nasty in output - safest check is take end off unless you can see enough through air vents - if there are brushes & an AVR you should be good to go - there is more chance of killing the generator than the welder - if you see no brushes & a big capacitor walk away ! it maybe beyond your budget but there are small portable engine drives for odd jobbing that are carry weight for taking around / up buildings etc - often only 150 > 200 amp but for average repairs up to 1/8" rods do fine - most common around here is the Mosa Magiweld series - one man can easily carry the 160amp - powered by just the 6.5hp Honda engine & has aux 110volt power for a grinder - this may suit your work.

I was looking at this one. Not sure its its brushless or not.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/produ ... tric-start

Not sure how useful the dual fuel option is to you so maybe there is a gasoline only version cheaper with same output - still not a bad price - obviously it's a China import & you can likely find same thing cheaper but the warranty from a USA company is probably worth the difference - on the link you have there are questions & answers posted within the last few days so could be worth asking them - sorry without actually seeing it I can't comment on the build & some models can be either with regard to brushless - I never seen this brand as I'm in the UK but it's common here for identical casings to be used for either output type - the thinking is if the unit is sold to a home owner it will likely be fairly smooth with an AVR fitted for more sensitive loads - downside is they are easily damaged by large inductive / reactive loads / high surges & shut off back EMF - maximum short term overload is usually 1.5 times rated load so be careful starting motors etc as they will be far in excess of the run load hence needing a bigger generator than first expected - if sold for commercial / site use then mostly they are brushless with a appalling looking output - only designed to run tools or lighting etc but more robust & will tolerate short term overload of around 3 times rated power so can start motors etc - very simple to repair - only sure way I know of finding which sort you have is take the 2screws out of the end cover & have a look - if this is not possible where you plan to buy from next best is buy from somewhere or on a card so you can take it home have a look - maybe test welder on it & return for refund if it's not what you need.

My genny is clean, as in it will run electronics. It's Yammy 2400 watt inverter. But at $1300 USD, it's also pricy. I can carry it, but the though of a flight of stairs..... Try Costco for a Champion 3000 inverter.

Downwindtracker2 wrote:Try Costco for a Champion 3000 inverter.

I doubt that will run his SW200. Certainly not on AC TIG.

cj737 wrote:

Downwindtracker2 wrote:Try Costco for a Champion 3000 inverter.

I doubt that will run his SW200. Certainly not on AC TIG.

I'm looking at a briggs and Stratton 8000 now. That should do it.

3000 watts is 25 amps of 120 volts.

Downwindtracker2 wrote:3000 watts is 25 amps of 120 volts.

I want to run 240v 25 amps

Downwindtracker2 wrote:3000 watts is 25 amps of 120 volts.

I want to run 240 volt though. I need a bigger generator.

A small engine driven welder looks better when pull up to a job site
Most field work typical uses Stick and MIG type welding
Most welders starting out today uses TIG ever one know you just start out

Today if see a lot welders using just generator and a 120 v MIG or TIG you to put good pitcher of being a great welder. Ever you only TIG welding

Dave

Ant428 wrote:Good afternoon,

I am starting a small welding business and will be doing some mobile repairs. I do mostly TIG in my shop, but when working on gates or heavy metal, I will be stick welding. I use a Lincoln Squarewave 200. My question is should I invest in a small engine driven welder, OR buy a 7500 watt generator and run my Squarewave off that? Lincoln says 7500 watt is fine for that machine.
If I buy a champion generator its only $750, vs 2k for an engine drivin welder.
Any thoughts?

-Anthony

always seemed to me like the combination of a small genset and a MIG machine was a fine way of asking for trouble. If you have a big genset rotating along at speed, and trigger a MIG welder that doesn't cause the genset to momentarily drop rpm, you might have a shot.
On initial triggering, the MIG machine generally draws maximum inrush current, and if the genset is slowing for that, you loose voltage & frequency. It's not a pretty picture on a scope.

If you want to see really ugly combine an inverter power supply on the MIG end with an inverter genset and look at that picture.